1st Edition

Teacher Representations in Dramatic Text and Performance Portraying the Teacher on Stage

Edited By Melanie Shoffner, Richard St. Peter Copyright 2020
    144 Pages
    by Routledge

    144 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book examines representations of the teacher on stage - in both theatrical performances and dramatic text - in order to demonstrate how these representations have shaped society’s perceptions of educators in and out of the classroom.



    At the heart of this book is the interaction between theatre and teacher education. By considering how dramatic portrayals reimagine, reinforce and/or undermine our understanding of the teacher’s personal and professional roles, this volume bridges the gap between truth in dramatic literature and truth in the classroom. Chapters critically explore the personas embodied by fictional teachers in well-known works such as Educating Rita, School of Rock and The History Boys and illustrate how educators might use dramatic literature and performance to interrogate entrenched ideas about the student-teacher dynamic. By bringing together a diverse set of contributors from the fields of teacher education and theatre, this book takes a critical look at performance, text, society and culture to promote a new understanding of teaching and learning.



    This unique book will be of great interest to graduate and postgraduate students, academics and researchers in the fields of teacher education, drama and theatre education.

    List of contributors





    Foreword



    Clay McLeod Chapman





    Introduction



    Melanie Shoffner & Richard St. Peter





    Chapter 1: Unfit to teach: Morality, panic and hazardous teachers



    James F. Wilson





    Response to Chapter 1: Sexual perversity in our dreams of teaching



    James Stillwaggon





    Chapter 2: Educating Frank: Mentorship in Willy Russell’s Educating Rita



    Richard Corley





    Response to Chapter 2: Educating Rita today



    Andy Goodwyn





    Chapter 3: Fun Home: Representations of a fractured father



    Heather Welch





    Response to Chapter 3: The complex multiplicities of teaching: Finding the right metaphor



    Marshall George





    Chapter 4: The teacher’s ethos in William Mastrosimone’s Tamer of Horses



    Benny Sato Ambush





    Response to Chapter 4: The teacher as savior fallacy



    Shelley Nowacek





    Chapter 5: Teaching the coach, coaching the teacher



    Richard St. Peter





    Response to Chapter 5: Reading coaches critically



    Luke Rodesiler





    Chapter 6: A rocker in teacher’s clothing: Outlandish lessons in School of Rock: The Musical



    Pauline Schmidt





    Response to Chapter 6: The danger of Deweys: What real teachers face



    Lisa Scherff





    Chapter 7: A holey trinity: Crises of communion in John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt



    Jeff Spanke





    Response to Chapter 7: Faith and futurity: Embracing the struggle



    Julie Gorlewski

    Biography

    Melanie Shoffner is Professor of Education at James Madison University, USA.



    Richard St. Peter is Assistant Professor of Theatre at Northwestern State University, USA.